


First Times

by sailsandanchors



Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-02-09 21:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1998225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailsandanchors/pseuds/sailsandanchors
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gimli is dead set on becoming a civil engineer and Legolas drifts around as a teacher's assistant with a law degree he hasn't quite figured out what to do with. They crash into one another so hard it's impossible to separate them.</p><p>Nonlinear collection of flufflets</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday darling! You're the greatest!

Finals meant that their hangouts had turned into study sessions. Legolas didn't mind. Gimli always delivered on his promise to make sandwiches and his apartment was comfortable despite the clutter. They studied for exams and he worked on whatever the professor couldn't be bothered doing that particular day. They usually called it a night around twelve and headed their separate ways. Not tonight.

His head shot up when he heard the first snore and he put his laptop to one side at the second one, as a head slumped against his shoulder.

Legolas sighed. He had assignments that needed grading by tomorrow and he shouldn't be worrying about getting out without waking anyone up.

Aragorn's eyes flew open if he felt someone looking at him funny, never mind making a noise. The man got little enough sleep as it was, so Legolas wasn't about to interrupt the few hours his body forced him into taking a rest. However, he was sitting on the floor, blocking his way to the exit, which meant he'd have to climb over him or clamber over the sofa.

And leaving the sofa presented a whole new problem in and of itself.

Gimli's head had fallen on his shoulder, trapping his right arm.

Trying to remove it only resulted in Gimli nestling against his chest and throwing an arm around his waist, pulling him closer. Gimli's laptop was digging into his stomach, awkwardly stuck between them. He tried shaking him lightly. Nothing. If Gimli didn't want to wake up, he couldn't imagine anything short of a cannon capable of doing the job.

He smiled despite himself and removed the offending laptop, saving his progress and shutting it off. He reached over to place it on the coffee table and was rewarded with a grumble that echoed through his ribs and traveled down his toes as Gimli tightened his grip. His eyes shifted over to Aragorn, who was thankfully still sleeping.

Legolas tried to convince himself that they had been sitting so close to each other because of Gimli's inability to comprehend personal space. It wasn't a very good argument since he hadn't moved after he helped him with his notes three hours ago, despite him being very distracting. Very distracting. He wondered how Aragorn hadn't seemed to notice or mind Gimli's heavy breathing. The noise had made him lose twenty minutes just zeroing in on it. He also scratched his beard and bit his lip whenever he was stumped, smashing his keyboard when he figured things out, their knees bumping as he put his whole body behind it. Legolas was weary of dislodged keys attacking him, yet he had not budged. And now his torso was pinned down by an aggressive cuddler.

He decided to make the most of the situation and not think about it until he had finished grading. He typed with one hand as he tried finding a comfortable position for his other arm, before admitting defeat and resting it across Gimli's back. He felt sort of guilty and he didn't want to know why. He had things to grade.

The next morning found him with a pain shooting down his back and a feeling of disorientation, a state of being he wasn't used to.

Then again he wasn't used to waking up in strange sofas, with strange men lying on top of him. 

He let out a breath.

No. Not strange.

Gimli shifted and he closed his eyes, going still as if he was still asleep, once more falling into the recent habit of doing things he didn't want to really look into.

The weight on his chest eased off as Gimli got on his feet and he held his breath. He could feel eyes on him and he heard Gimli take a step towards him. Something hard was moved from under his back and he realized he must have slept on his laptop. He let out a small groan as his back lay flat on the sofa, sharp angles no longer digging into him. There was a laughing exhale of breath from above him and Legolas fought a smile, turning to his side instead. His face felt warm.

Gimli hummed and there was a shuffling sound. A blanket was thrown on top of him and dissipating footsteps sounded as Gimli left the room.

Legolas sighed and pulled the blanket closer despite not feeling cold. He breathed in. It smelled faintly like Gimli. His eyes closed and he allowed himself a few minutes surrounded by it.

He wasn't used to that, lying in bed in the mornings. 'No.' he thought, 'Not bed...'

He sat up and relinquished the blanket, folding it carefully.

Judging by the voices in the kitchen and the wafting smell of slightly burnt toast, Aragorn had to be making breakfast.

He rubbed his eyes and headed for the kitchen, bracing himself for Aragorn's raised eyebrow and teasing smirk .


	2. Chapter 2

Gimli yawned and looked out his window. It seemed like a nice day outside. Sunny... Too sunny. Far sunnier than eight in the morning ever looked.

Shit.

He stumbled out of bed and rubbed his eyes, glancing at his cell phone.

The screen was black and unresponsive. It took him a couple of moments of sleepy bewilderment to realize the battery had completely crapped out on him. The clock on the wall showed 9:50. Which means he had ten minutes to get to a classroom that was half an hour away.

Shit.

Just what he needed on his first day of class.

He hunted for the charger and stuffed it in his bag along with his dead phone, rushing for the bathroom. Huffing his way through brushing his teeth and getting dressed, he grabbed his books and bag and was out the door three minutes later. 

Gimli maybe tolerated running when playing football.He usually hated it. However, he had moved well past hating and was cursing his life, his piece of shit phone and most of all the uphill road through campus. He narrowly missed getting run over by a girl on a bike, but didn't pause or slow down. He could feel sweat drip down his nose and his legs burned from the exertion. The library came into view and he let out a breathless groan of a laugh. Only a bit more to go.

He rounded the corner and smiled, speeding up. He could finally see the door to the building that Introduction to Engineering was held in. Unfortunately he missed the person coming out of the library and heading in the exact opposite direction. The stranger's head was stuck behind a book and only noticed him at the last minute. He swerved around Gimli, but their bags got tangled and they crashed into each other, elbows knocking, books and notes spilling around them.

Gimli cursed and gathered his books, throwing a quick "Watch where you're going!" the stranger's way before running to class. He made it just as roll call was ending and quickly lifted his hand to report in. He then permitted himself to sag in his seat, enveloped in sweat and panting his lungs out. 

It was only after the lecture that he noticed he had an extra book with him. A law textbook. Definitely not his. The bastards couldn't be trusted. He opened it to see if there was a name written inside. _Legolas Greenleaf_ was written in neat cursive writing at the bottom of the front page.

 _Greenleaf_... It couldn't be. He'd heard his father's work stories so many times he'd learned them all by heart. _"And the asshole almost cost us the company."_

Gimli tried to remember what the guy had looked like, but all he could remember was a too tight shirt and tufts of golden hair. The guy could be related to the fucker that tried to imprison uncle Thorin.

He debated whether or not he should return the book. It didn't have an address on it or anything. But then as he was leaving campus he saw the same tight shirt and grumbled to himself. He tapped him on the back.

"This yours?" The guy turned around, his smile turning into a scowl when he saw him.

He grabbed the book and held it close to him. "Do you always start your mornings by assaulting people?" 

Gimli was sure he was related to Thranduil. He could feel it."Why? Are you going to sue me?"

Something in the man's eyes shifted and they became hard.

"I doubt you have anything I could possibly need." Legolas snapped at him and walked away. His last words were "You have something drooling into your beard." before he disappeared down the road.

Gimli growled but ran a hand trough it. Toothpaste.

Shit.


	3. Chapter 3

 

Aragorn had insisted on taking him out to celebrate surviving his first month as a TA. It was really an excuse to attempt another go at getting him drunk, but Legolas went along anyway. Aragorn was still trying to adjust to poli-sci after switching from pre-med last year, and Legolas figured a night out would be a good thing for both of them. He had been too busy to go out and he missed getting a beer and with him and talking for hours.

However, Aragorn failed to mention that he'd invited other people. People Legolas didn't know, and was frankly puzzled as to how Aragorn did. Well, that wasn't exactly true, but since things with him and Gimli were on the wrong side of civil, it didn't make the situation any better. The other four were relaxed, even for undergrads, but had way too many inside jokes for Legolas to follow half their stories.They were all younger and studying in vastly different fields. He was pretty sure one of them, his name was probably Merry, wasn't even studying at their university. Or at all. 

Just as they were about to have a last round and call it a night Aragorn got an urgent phone call. He didn't explain, so Legolas guessed it must have been Boromir, which is why he wasn't planning to give him any strife for departing and leaving him in charge of five extremely inebriated undergrads, one of which merely tolerated him if not outright hated him. 

Still, they  were an excellent group to have a drink with. Up until he left, Aragorn had looked more at ease than he'd seen him in weeks and it wasn't just the beers.  Their smiles were infectious. The bar had no karaoke but they more than made up for that with enthusiasm and improvised lyrics.

It was strange seeing Gimli laugh. He put his whole body into it, head tilted back, his hand clutching the person nearest to him, but he made it a point to not pay any attention to Legolas. It left him wondering what it would be like meeting Gimli now instead of having the terrible start they had.

Somehow after an amazing butchering of 'Danger Zone', whose title with the addition of 'Highway to' was the only part of the song anyone knew, he  ended up debating the finer points of the city's zoning restrictions with Gimli and was surprised to find himself enjoying it. It wasn't every day one found a person that slammed his fist on the table over property rights. He loved  seeing the man all riled up. From the  occasional  smile on Gimli's face, he surmised he wasn't the only one getting a kick out of the argument. The smiles usually  preceded  Gimli tearing one of his points to  shreds, yet another thing that did not happen often, certainly not by someone that had drunk a couple of pitchers of  beer over the course of the evening.

Legolas wasn't aware of how fast the time had gone by until last call came. 

Gimli got up and returned with a pitcher of beer. He swayed for a second and almost tripped over his own feet. Legolas reached out to catch him, but Gimli managed to put down the pitcher and fall onto a stool without his help. He sat next to Legolas and filled up both their glasses.

"This round is on me!" Gimli shouted and Legolas shut his eyes at the volume, but chuckled. He was feeling slightly tipsy.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Legolas woke up feeling pleasantly sore, the left side of the bed empty and the sheets rumpled.

This wasn't new. It hadn't been new for a couple of weeks now. Yet it still brought a smile to his face. He stretched and walked to the window, cracking it open for a few moments. The cold air surrounded him and small snowflakes drifted in. They melted on his bare skin, waking him up.

The Christmas holidays were over and today he had to face a class again, but that wasn't what was weighing on his mind as he got ready for the day.

Staying at his apartment this year had proven to be one of his better decisions in life, but while things with him and Gimli were incredible, they were hardly defined. They had things to figure out, because it wasn't going to be as uncomplicated. This had been too sudden and soon it couldn't be just them under a comforter, hidden away from the world.

The house smelled of toast and coffee, like a home. Legolas couldn't stop smiling.

He entered the kitchen fully dressed, his briefcase slung over a shoulder. Gimli was sitting on the counter, studying and munching on toast, as crumbs fell on pages full of equations.

"Good morning."

"Morning!" Gimli grinned and pulled him forward for a kiss, tugging at his tie. The world slowed down for a bit and then a mug of warm tea was thrust in his hands and Gimli started rummaging about packing a sandwich and a thermos full of even more tea.

"What's all this?"

"Well, it's your first day back and you refuse to have a proper breakfast, so..." Gimli waved his hands about in exasperation. 

"Thanks." He kissed his forehead. "How's revision going?" He couldn't pretend to understand what those infernal squiggles meant, but they were important to Gimli.

"I'm a bit ahead of schedule," he shrugged. "Maybe we can grab dinner and a movie later." Gimli smiled and handed him the packed launch.

"Sounds like a plan. See you in a couple of hours." He smiled and leaned closer expecting a kiss, but what he got was a finger jabbing at his sternum and pushing him away.

"It's snowing outside! You're not even wearing a coat." Not this argument again. "I've never seen you with a coat... Do you want my coat?"

"It's a short walk to class, darling. I'll be fine." He said with what was hoping was a placating smile.

"Don't you 'darling' me!" Gimli's eyes dropped to Legolas' feet. "You're wearing loafers!"

"You got me these loafers!" They were a birthday gift from Aragorn and Gimli, though he suspected Arwen had no small part in picking them out. They were his favorite item of clothing. And they tied his outfit together perfectly.

"In June, Legolas! In fucking June! You'll catch your death!"

"Green..."

"I swear to god if you say 'Greenleafs don't catch colds.' I'm walking out the door." Gimli huffed, amusement edging into his disgruntled expression.

"You'd look cute out in the snow, in just my pyjama bottoms." He traced the waistband with his fingers and leaned closer. "Your nose red from the cold." He breathed against Gimli's ear. "Shivering."  His fingers went lower, under the fabric and Gimli growled.

He slammed Legolas against the counter. "You're a damn cheat." He said and crashed their mouths together.

Legolas smiled into the kiss. "As long as I win." He should have realized the moment the words fell out his mouth that he had dug his own grave, but he was pleasurably distracted.

"How long till the lecture?" Gimli whispered into his ear.

"We have ten minutes." 

Gimli ground into him and then stepped away, an evil grin on his face. "Then give me a minute to go find something," he said and walked out the room.

Legolas spent a few seconds composing himself and followed after him, irritated but curious.

A small pile of  Gimli's clothes had migrated to Legolas' apartment, though one couldn't tell by how frequently he wore Legolas' clothes. He was currently wading through them, trying to find something.

He was bent over and Legolas found himself admiring the view before remembering he was annoyed with him. "Find what you were looking for?"

Gimli ignored him and he was about to say something that was probably inadvisable, when Gimli sprung to his feet waving a scarf triumphantly. 

He plodded over to Legolas and wrapped it around his neck. "Here you go."

"What's this?" He looked down and touched the fabric lightly. It was very soft and familiar. His eyes widened. "You can't give me this!"

"Why not?"

"This is the scarf your mother made." He took it off and stared down at it. It seemed too much. "You can't give me this."

"If my mother was here she'd yell my ear off for letting my boyfriend walk out the door straight into pneumonia." He wrapped it around Legolas' neck again and smiled. "It suits you."

Legolas was so overwhelmed that he almost missed it. Almost.

"Boyfriend?"

**Author's Note:**

>  Part of my [LotR Modern AU](http://captainofalltheships.tumblr.com/tagged/lotr-modern-au)


End file.
